


Death and the Shinobi

by BigE2955, NXSE



Category: Bleach, Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Politics, Corruption, Drama & Romance, F/M, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-30
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2019-03-11 08:18:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13520286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BigE2955/pseuds/BigE2955, https://archiveofourown.org/users/NXSE/pseuds/NXSE
Summary: A world fraught with greed and corruption, decadence and arrogance-and two men are brought into it at the worst possible time. One trapped in the slums of the Rukongai, the other imprisoned in the highest halls of the Seireitei. Together, they will change the Soul Society, or die trying.





	Death and the Shinobi

**It is said some lives are linked across time, connected by an ancient calling that echoes through the ages—destiny.**

* * *

  **District 69**

* * *

The gold rim of the sun pushes over a thick grey cloud as a cool breeze picks up a leaf from the ground and floats through the streets. It ruffles his golden hair into a mess in its wake and blows the leaf straight past his ear. The hair move and tickle his skin as his bare feet start to move, picking up some dust from the ground, and his free hand idly keeps searching for some imaginary coins inside his pocket.

Naruto’s eyes dance around the novelties of District 69 with a curiosity that won’t look out of the ordinary on a four-year-old’s face. His walk through the streets was swift and carefree: hands tucked neatly inside the pockets while his bare feet sauntered over the gravel and pot holes with practised ease. The dispirited looks on people’s faces and the pungent odor ever present in the air were something Naruto merely turned his head to nowadays.

He puts his hands behind his neck, and sticks his lip out with a slight scrunch to his eyebrows upon finding nothing. “This sucks.” he pouts. Blue eyes dart left and right, almost smiling at the sight of children hurrying past him with a laugh.

Moments like these made the void in his heart seem a bit less heavy. Though there were a lot of people who did not mind the idea of making him a part of their family -- as was the norm in these districts -- a solution like that never did feel right to him. If asked, he would be unable to explain why he felt this way; he just did -- it was a gut feeling that wouldn’t leave him alone no matter how hard he tried.

“Hey, Naruto!” a voice calls.

Naruto looks over his shoulder to see a black haired man in simple white clothing wave at him. Apart from the small rag of cloth tied on his forehead with a forward facing knot, there is nothing special about him. As the blond did not know who he is, he does the only thing that comes to mind: he waves back just as happily at the stranger.

“Who are you?” Naruto asks.

The man ran up to him smiling, “I hear you’re someone who doesn’t shy away from some heavy lifting.” he says.

Shrugging his shoulders, “If you’re willing to pay, I’m willing to work.” Naruto replies.

Offering his hand, the scraggly man with a long nail jammed between his teeth speaks, “I’m Kano.” he greets.

Naruto shakes his hand with a smile. “You already know my name, Kano-san,” he says.

Feeling a cool touch of metal against his skin, Naruto curls up his fingers into a fist just as their hands part so that the coins that are sliding to his palm do not fall, and starts dropping the coins inside his pocket one by one. His lips part to speak as he drops the fifth and final coin: “it seems you’ve hired me for five hours, Kano-san.” His new employer mirrors his smile with a kind one of his own and motions for Naruto to follow his lead.

As the man in front of Naruto starts leading him towards an alley, his muscles get stiff and his eyes become a lot more keen to his surroundings. The bright warm rays of the sun give way to cold darkness as his employer leads him further and further into the web of alleys. Naruto’s face visibly blanches as the stench of alcohol and sweat strikes his senses, and he swiftly lowers his gaze to the right when a loud, shameless moan reverberates through the alleys, its source being an open window to his left.

 “How much further?” Naruto asks.

 “Just a little more to go,” Kano replies.

Naruto lets out a breath he didn’t know he had held when a small work-site comes into view; it is full of stacks upon stacks of lumber, plywood, hammers and nails by the side. He cranes his neck up to follow the trail left by two ladders leaning against a big and wide hole in the wall. “The guests in that hotel had a bit of a scuffle last night,” Kano answers Naruto’s unspoken question.

 Naruto lets out an impressed whistle, wondering what must have happened to make such a painful cavity in the wall but decides against it. Even if someone was thrown through the wall, all that's left for Naruto to do now is to obediently follow Kano’s lead and burn through the hours his employer has paid him for, and to go back home with a pocket full of coins.

“I’ll climb up this ladder with some hammers and nails, and you can hand me the timber for the repairs with the other ladder when I ask, okay?” Kano instructs.  
Naruto nods and waits for Kano to climb up his ladder before he picks up a wooden beam and climbs up his own ladder. They keep circling this routine for four and a half hours as Kano keeps hammering the lumber and plywood that Naruto hands over to him, and the wall is eventually repaired.

“I guess that’s it, eh?” Kano asks proudly.

Naruto wipes the sweat off his brow with his sleeve and nods, “Yeah, we finished a bit early.” he replies earnestly. Kano lets out a booming laugh and slaps his arm in a playful manner.

 “It’s all thanks to your help. Man, can you put those arms to use!” he chortles.

 Naruto rubs to his arm and then his nose. “You can give me a bonus for it if you want to, y’know!” he jokes.

Kano lets out a chuckle at his cheeky remark and tosses him a coin. Naruto deftly catches it and eyes the man curiously but decides not to look a gift horse in the mouth and stuffs the coin inside his pocket full of change with a grin.

Naruto turns around to leave when Kano starts packing up his tools; he looks up to see the sun dip below the horizon. Shady stars begin to come out with the darkness. Keenly eyeing his surroundings, Naruto halts at a turn to an alley when his ears pick up a few incoherent voices. He stands patiently behind the corner until the voices, murmuring to each other, pass and jogs out to the main plaza’s bakery with haste--clearly not in the mood to be mugged by the shady groups loitering in these alleyways.

He enters the bakery with a loud jingle on its door and buys three loaves of bread, chalky and stale ones, with what he had earned. His stomach twists into a knot, and he lets out a loud grumble as he runs back to the dingy little apartment that had been his shelter for almost five years now; he knows that the only thing will sate his strange cravings now was that loaf of bread.

* * *

  
They say that he had been born destined for greatness.

In the Soul Society, it is often considered a sign of extraordinary luck to be born into one of the major clans: the Shihoin, the Kuchiki; clans of that particular breed and stature were vaunted all the way from the center of the Seireitei to the outermost reaches of Shinigami influence.

The perks of being born into one of these clans were obvious ones: you were pampered from birth, idolized by all, and given the sort of opportunities that would make a Rukongai dweller weep in despair.

So many people would kill at the idea of even being a retainer of the Kuchiki clan; they would steal, murder and rape to have the opportunity to live within a kilometer of their great compound.

Not every person is like this, as one might expect.

After all, if there’s one thing Kuchiki Sasuke hates, it’s the fact that he was born into the Kuchiki clan.

That morning was like any other.

The kimono he wore was simple, but made of white silk that cost the same as an apartment in the tenth district. He slipped into a pair of sandals as well, and dragged a comb through his black hair--not that it did him any good, since no amount of beauty products could make a dent in his spiky mane.

It was still dark out as Sasuke slid out of his room, trying with all of his might to keep his reiatsu muted. The coast was clear, and he breathed a sigh of relief as he closed his door behind him with a soft wooden thunk.

He walked through the quiet interior of his home, his head bowed and the sound of his footsteps near nonexistent. Silence is not something that is enforced in the Kuchiki household, but it is the norm regardless. Save for a few occasions, not many talked above a whisper when they were granted the honor of entering the primary compound.  
It was startling early for him to be up. He had tossed and turned all night, the usual visions of red eyes and fire having filled his dreams. His back and legs ached, and really all he looked forward to that morning was a nice walk to clear his thoughts and ease the stiffness from his limbs.

Of course, his brother always had to throw a wrench into his plans.

Sasuke doubted he would ever hear him leave when he suddenly appeared in front of Sasuke--as he had done many times before. It seemed as if he had materialized from thin air, though Sasuke knew he wasn’t even close to using his skilled Shunpo abilities.

Gray eyes stared down at him, framed by long black hair.

“Why are you up so early?” Byakuya asked; his voice was soft, but that undertone of power and aristocracy, as always, grated on Sasuke’s nerves without fail.

“I was going for a walk, nii-sama.” Sasuke replied.

“It is still dark out.” Byakuya said. “You are not going out for a walk at this hour.”

“But-”

“Go back to your quarters.” Byakuya continued, and Sasuke’s protest fell short. “It will be dawn soon; then you may go out.”

Sasuke lowered his head. His hands shook, and he opened his mouth but nothing came out.

“Yes, nii-sama.” Sasuke said.

Byakuya disappeared without another word, but Sasuke knew that his brother would know if he had simply disregarded his command; he knew that it was impossible for Byakuya to be omnipresent, but if anyone came close it was him.

Sasuke returned to his room, closing the door behind him a little louder than he intended. He harshly kicked the foot of his nightstand, and sat on his bed. Aa redness creeped up his neck, and his hands continued to shake.

‘I swear, I’d better not be in the same division as him when I become a Shinigami.’ he thought. ‘If I end up with him--I don’t know what I’ll do.’

His presence was almost totalitarian; he wasn’t absolute about following the rules, but Sasuke could count the number of times Byakuya had let something slide on one hand. All but one of those times had been before he could even walk.

“You’d think that today of all days, he would be a little…”

A little what?

Byakuya was Byakuya, and even on this most important day, he wouldn’t change his attitude toward anybody.

Sasuke took in a deep breath.

He wanted to go out and walk, he wanted to feel the wind whipping through his hair ,and the glow of the sun beating down on him. He wanted to hear the distant cries of children playing in the streets and languish in that wonderful feeling of tranquility.

But things did not always go that way.

It didn’t matter whether you were content with being a Kuchiki or not, you were a Kuchiki. To defy his brother’s will would be tantamount to treason for a few of the elders; the last time he’d done something like that, it had resulted in him being shut inside the manor for a month. If he were to do it again? Well, Sasuke wasn’t exactly tempted to test them once more.

He fiddled with his thumbs, and waited for the sun to arise.

Minutes ticked by, agonizingly, so slow that Sasuke was sure he was suspended in time. A multitude of sounds reached his ears: of pots and pans clanging, as the kitchen staff prepared breakfast, not to mention the sound of wood against wood as a pair of his cousins sparred out in the grounds.

His stomach rumbled slightly and he frowned.

Perhaps after dawn, when he was finished with his walk, Sasuke decided that he would go to the dining hall. Some breakfast would do him well--he just hoped the tomatoes they’d picked weren’t quite as dry as they had been the previous day.

Finally, the sun rose, and Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief.

He stepped outside his room, and made his way outside.

Where before he would have been able to enjoy some peace and quiet, the grounds were now alive with activity. The aforementioned cousins were rolling and crouching, springing at each other and drawing back after a few moments of heated battle. His aunt watched the spar passively as some of the servants nearby began their routine of tending to the garden.

Sasuke bit the inside of his cheek and repressed a groan.

Tranquility was not to be found that morning, it seems.

He began his walk, and almost immediately, his extended family began to badger him.

“Sasuke-sama, have you seen Byakuya-sama lately?”

“Sasuke-sama, you look so dashing today!”

“Sasuke-sama, may I have the honor of walking with you?”

He let out a sigh, set his gaze in front of him, and continued to walk.

Above him, a bird circled lazily.

Down below, the walls of the Kuchiki clan had never felt more pressing.

* * *

 The floor throbbed with the beat of the drums. Dull and flickering red-green lights shone from the ceiling and bounced off the glasses on the tables; they glinted off the wet dance floor spilled with alcohol, thrown in a million different directions. It was a weekend night, and the club was packed full of people: eating, drinking, and gambling their hours away.

His hands moved swiftly to pour drink after drink. At the rate alcohol was flying off the counter, Naruto didn’t even have time to properly wash the glasses before he gave them to another tipsy patron. The glass bottoms kept clinking as he pressed drink after drink into demanding hands and smiled. His pocket was heavy with more coins: tips from the drowsy hands of drunkards who weren’t cheap enough to skimp out on them. Sweat glittered on his forehead and the heat radiating from the crowd seemed inescapable. The drops fell down from his forehead like shimmering pearls—straight into the glasses they went—mixing themselves in a swirl of liquor and ice.

His eyes moved over the tightly packed crowd—he noticed that they resembled penguins huddled together in the winter—and a tired breath slipped past his lips.

“Busy night, eh?” Kano yelled through the music.

“Yeah,” Naruto yelled back, “—but it’s always busy on weekends!”

Kano shrugged and guzzled down his drink with a wince. Naruto unwound a cloth from his waist and started mopping the rugged stone counter free of stains. The blue in his eyes was even more pronounced in the glaring lights, attracting quite a few appreciative eyes.

Naruto noticed a pair of chocolate brown eyes staring at him, and he tried to ignore the longing in her smile, busying himself with his orders once more.

“The fuck’s wrong with you?” Kano asked.

Naruto threw in a couple of ice cubes into his cocktail shaker and gave it a furious shake; he pointed to his ears and then to speakers to the right. “I didn’t hear you,” he said.

“That was the second chick you turned down, and I just got here for Kami’s sake!”

Naruto laughed and poured the contents of his shaker into a pitcher, “If you drank the same drink everyday, you’d be bored too,” he replied. Kano barked a laugh and gave him a thumbs up, shaking his head in sullen amusement. His black, gel-soaked hair stayed in place as he briskly pointed to the dance floor with an empty glass in hand.

“Check that one out, man.” Kano exclaimed and blew a wolfish whistle. “—she’s so hot!”

Naruto followed his line of sight to the girl that was dancing in a sensuous manner. The blond couldn’t help but stare—she wasn’t anything like the women he was used to seeing on that floor on a daily basis. Her short red kimono hugged her body like a second skin, seducing dozens of eyes that gaped at her hourglass figure.

Many faces slavered as she bent down a little and did something dreamy with her hips. Her long blonde hair swayed against her slim waist while her legs looked a mile long in that knee-length kimono. There was something captivating in the way she swayed—a strange sort of defiance that emanated from her silky movements--and her eyes that were a lighter shade of blue than his own made the crowd’s hearts skip a beat when she looked at them.

“Hey,” Kano tugged at his arm, “—she isn’t one of the prostitutes here, is she?”

Naruto frowned as he replied, “I don’t think so.”

“I’m taking that girl with me tonight, man.” Kano’s comment was low and annoying enough to break Naruto free from his stupor.

“Kano,” Naruto said in a no-nonsense voice, “—you have a wife.”

“She doesn’t have to know,” Kano replied. “—you won’t tell her, right?”

Naruto clenched his fingers on the counter as he watched Kano go to that girl with a laugh. Though, before he could speak to the blonde, a redhead caked in makeup asked him for a dance. Kano laughed, wrapped his arms around her waist, and whispered something in her ear. The redhead giggled when Kano nodded at her reply and Kano left with an arm around her waist.

Naruto snorted in disgust and focused his mind on cleaning the glasses instead.  
“Hello there,” a female voice purred.

A soft body sidled up to Naruto’s side, and curled about his arm. His nostrils flared when an intense stench of perfume and alcohol struck him, and Naruto looked down to see brown eyes—the same as the ones that were staring at him before—blink at him. He looked down to see the heavily made-up eyes of a prostitute’s face staring at him. Naruto could appreciate the magic make-up did to a girl’s face, but not when she looked as if she had been punched in both eyes.

“Geiru,” Naruto greeted and tried to free his arm from her grip. “—how’s it going?”

“Oh, you know, the usual.” she replied.

Geiru batted her dark eyelashes and pushed her breasts against his arm. Naruto gave a quick glance to her cleavage and cocked an eyebrow at her. Her right sleeve slickly fell off her shoulder, and Naruto wondered if this was a practiced move or a genuine coincidence—his gut favoured the latter though. His constant rejection of girls advances during his time here had only spurred them on, and by this point, Naruto knew she wouldn’t back down without a blunt rejection.

“What are you doing?”

His eyes strayed off searched for the blonde girl in that sinful red kimono. Geiru tightened her grip on his arm and pulled his gaze back to her.

“Let’s go to your place,” she said.

Naruto visibly blanched when she opened her mouth and tried to press her lips on his own. His eyes frantically searched for any of the supervisors to the, but he clicked his teeth together when his search yielded no results. His desperate search ended when he got expertly maneuvered out of Geiru’s grasp, and the girl every man in the club had been shamelessly ogling wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder.

“He’s with me,” she told Geiru but kept her eyes locked to him, “—aren’t you?”

When her gaze shifted to him, Naruto had to hold his breath to keep himself composed. Kano hadn’t been joking—she really was stunning. Her face was a stark contrast to any of the girls present in the club—it was devoid of any makeup. Her eyes, as he’d seen earlier, were a lighter shade of blue—sky blue, now that he had a closer look to her face. Her lips, small and full, weren’t wearing any lipstick and yet they seemed redder than Geiru’s—probably due to the drinks she’d drank till now.

When Naruto didn’t respond, her golden brows furrowed in confusion. Naruto quickly caught her arms and circled them around his neck. He placed his chin on her shoulder and held her stiffly for a minute or two.

“She’s gone. You’re safe,” she whispered and smirked. “—now you buy me a drink.”

“Do you even realize where you are, woman?” Naruto asked.

Her eyes turned cold and she flattened her palms against his chest. “Cheap bastard.”

The blonde girl turned on her heel and left Naruto standing—staring at her like a lost puppy. He didn’t understand what what the hell just happened. He watched her sway a little on her feet— and he had smelt that same reek of alcohol from her, even though it hadn’t been much—so she was obviously a lightweight.

Naruto wanted to run after her, but judging from her earlier reaction, he feared she would probably spit at him. But what the hell had he done wrong? He was just trying to tell her the error of her ways, and he hadn’t actually said no to her favour. Maybe he should have offered her a drink first before explaining?

“Naruto!”

Hearing Geiru shout for him, Naruto sighed and threw his towel on the counter—his shift timing about done now. He walked out the doors and into the back alley connecting to the back of the club. He inhaled a deep breath of the outside, smoke-free air, and hurriedly jogged through the streets. But he stopped by a turn to a corner when he heard a group of voices murmuring on the path ahead.

Naruto peeked from the corner of the alley-way to make sure it wasn’t one of the shady groups that loitered around these parts mugging people—he wasn’t in the mood for a scuffle tonight. He blinked upon seeing the silhouette of a woman leaning her palm against the dirty brick walls, puking her guts out.

He probably wouldn’t have recognized her had it not been for her bright red kimono—she was even more of an eyesore than him in the yellow lights illuminating the streets right now. Moments when Naruto hated being right were rare—and this was one of them. She was a lightweight. He glanced beyond the girl and saw a man leering at her from a distance. Sighing, Naruto stepped back and turned around to leave.

Naruto stopped and hesitated on the spot for a moment. Sighing, he slammed his fist into the wall and ran back to the girl. The man he’d seen was just beginning to take some steps in her direction—his eyes set on the prize.

When the pervert took another step, “Walk away or the only prize you’ll be getting tonight is a broken nose, bastard,” Naruto muttered under his breath. Naruto was already by her side when the man took his third step. He slung her arm over his shoulders and and held her up by the waist. The pervert moved back a step, then another, and another before he turned on his heel on ran in the opposite direction.

“Fucking filth,” Naruto muttered under his breath.

“What did you just call me?” she hissed.

“Not you. But that filth part suits you.” he snickered.

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks when he felt the temperature of her skin—she was nearly burning. “Hold on,” without waiting for her reply, Naruto scooped his arm under thighs and picked her up—bridal style—in his arms. She whispered a weak protest, but Naruto ignored her pleas and started walking out of the alley.

“Where do you live?” Naruto asked. “I’ll drop you home.”

When no reply came from her, Naruto looked down and saw her completely passed out in his arms. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was uneven and shallow. She looked troubled in her sleep, and with the year nearing its end the temperature was dipping drastically in the night. Fog was beginning to set around the district, and Naruto quickened his pace when she shivered against a breeze. His lodging was a few minutes away from his workplace—thank Kami—and the disgusting reeking of vomit she emitted was enough to make him feel nauseated.

Naruto debated if he should just drop her off in a garbage dump and be done with it like a normal, sane person would, but he knew he couldn’t do it. He entered his home in a small apartment complex and sat her against a wall. Holding his breath, Naruto cleaned her up with a damp towel as best as he possibly could and sprinkled some fragrant oil on her clothes as an act of goodwill and laid her down on a futon.

Tucking her into the blanket, Naruto settled himself on a rocking chair and closed his eyes. Glancing at her pale face, Naruto felt horrible. He knew she should visit a doctor or something, but his current financial condition wasn’t good enough for something like that. He wanted to change her clothes, but he knew she wouldn’t appreciate some stranger stripping her—and she might even attack his eyes with those sharp nails of hers—so it was better not to risk it. She whimpered when he placed an extra pillow by her side and curled up like a little kitten in the blanket.

Naruto would never admit that he watched her sleep, but he kept rocking his chair until her until her breathing evened out before his mind gave in to a blissful sleep.

* * *

He kept his head down, his face rigid, and his feet flat.

It was quiet, and though Sasuke typically liked the quiet, he didn’t like it when he was wrought with such a tension.

Truthfully, if he could choose where he would be tonight, it would not be at the wedding of his brother to some lowly commoner.

Hisana. She did not even have a clan name--and that fact irked Sasuke. What was his brother thinking, bringing that sort of dirt into their clan? Sasuke was not a fan of the Kuchiki clan, but he was proud of his lineage nonetheless, and to have someone like the marry into their clan…

Not that his opinion carried any weight; the elders had already made their official protests, and Byakuya had overruled each and every one of them. He would be wed to Hisana, and that was final--no name Hisana would become Kuchiki Hisana in only a short while, and that was that.

So, Sasuke swallowed his pride and prepared to watch the wedding. As was the norm for Kuchikis, it was traditional--nothing like the ‘Western’ style weddings that dominated the human world. They were just putting the last of the very, very extensive preperations together now, and then they would begin.

He had seen Hisana before, but he had never really seen her. It had always been fleeting glances, for Byakuya was protective of his fiancee, and she seemed to be cooped up in a room most of the time anyway, incapacitated at times because of her bouts of sickness. Just another sign of her weakness, or so Sasuke thought.

The bride and groom stepped in together. Byakuya and Hisana both clad in kimonos of cream white and swishing silk, elegant and immaculate, the pair looking like they had walked straight out of a painting.

Hisana’s gaze slid over the room. Then, it landed on Sasuke, the exact moment he chose to look at her.

Electricity sparked in his mind, and Sasuke seemed to freeze in place. His face did not change from that stoic outlook the Kuchiki’s had taught him to wear, but his insides had turned to mush, as if he had suddenly become some school girl faced with her crush.

That wasn’t the case, though. It wasn’t such instant attraction, love at first sight, ‘why did you marry my brother instead of me’ kind of deals. It was a connection--something he felt in his core, in his gut, in his heart that made his skin crackle and his eyes dilate.

Sasuke wiped his sweaty hands off on his kimono as subtly as he could manage, because he would have been caned if an elder had seen him do that.

He didn’t breath until she looked away; those violet eyes of hers seemed to stare right through him, and Sasuke couldn’t help but feel anxious. There was something about her that put him on edge--not that he thought her dangerous, but it was just something, and he didn’t know what and that irked him very much.

The ceremony itself was very dull, at least by Sasuke’s standards. Then again, he found nearly everything the Kuchiki did to be dull. Tradition and Kuchiki went hand in hand, and they put together this elaborate Shinto wedding so as to ‘legitimize’ the marriage. Something that they had to double down on this time in particular, due to Hisana’s commoner origins.

It went on and on and on, and Sasuke found himself wanting to sneak out. The priest droned, they read their vows aloud, they drank the wine, everything went smoothly because this was an occasion where they couldn’t afford for anything to go wrong. There was no intrigue here, there was no assassination, there was nothing that could make this wedding interesting--it was just boredom, and Sasuke could not believe that this was something that people had to sit through on a regular basis.

Sasuke had to repress a groan as they progressed to the next phase of the wedding. If he ever had one of his own, he was intent on making it modern--all this tradition made him want to set everything around him on fire.

Shintoism was something that was practiced extensively in the inner districts of Soul Society, something that was imprinted in his brain from birth, and yet Sasuke knew that he could never go through with something as silly as a Shinto wedding. As if the kami would bless the arranged marriage Byakuya would inevitably force him into.

It seemed like an eternity had passed, but in reality it only lasted around half an hour. Finally, Byakuya and Hisana were wed. The rings were slipped onto their respective fingers, and the polite applause filled the room.

“Let us adjourn to the reception.” Byakuya said to the small crowd that consisted of little more than close family. “I am sure the others are awaiting our arrival.”

Sasuke shuffled with everyone else as they walked. It was silent, because why would you want to talk on such a ‘joyous’ occasion? Byakuya and Hisana headed up the funeral procession, and Sasuke couldn’t help but notice how close the two stood together.

‘Be careful, nii-sama.’ Sasuke thought. ‘You might accidently show some affection.’

The doors opened, and a crowd at least tenfold the size of what had been at the wedding awaited them in the reception hall. Sasuke saw the coat of arms of the three other noble clans, and at least a dozen other clans that were scattered around the room. Vultures, he thought, trying to scrape some influence and respect at a wedding of all things.  
Byakuya apparently felt the same way, for he shot a look so icy at the other clan heads that even Sasuke shuddered slightly.

Then, something peculiar happened.

Everyone else had already gone into the hall, to find their tables and friends, to sit there and do nothing because actually talking would be criminal to most of these people. So, they didn’t see what Sasuke saw.

Hisana took Byakuya’s hand in both of hers. He looked toward her, and she smiled--and that was all it took.

The way his brother’s cold exterior melted sent his mind for a loop--Sasuke would have been less surprised if Byakuya had chosen to marry his Zanpakuto.

Byakuya seemed to calm, and Sasuke watched in awe as the newly wedded couple stepped forward to greet their collected guests. They went from person to person, and for the first time since Sasuke had been born, Byakuya seemed to lack his customary callousness. He wasn’t kind, he wasn’t exactly pleasant or polite, but he wasn’t himself either.  
It was weird.

Really, really weird, and Sasuke couldn’t help but contemplate the possibility that his brother was being bewitched by this commoner; but he knew that was just an impossibility. There was something about her that managed to calm Byakuya, something that tamed him and made him act like a decent human being for once.

Sasuke decided that he liked Hisana, even if she was a commoner. So long as she kept Byakuya in check, he could live with that kind of grimy blood. It was only a step--Sasuke still had quite a ways to go before he could even be considered tolerant.

That was something Sasuke had to roll over in his mind once or twice, the fact that someone could actually make his brother seem even marginally more normal. What a strange thought.

He cast one last look at Hisana, and again that little bit of electricity crackled. This time, he wiped his sweaty hands off on his kimono without a care for who might be watching him. He looked at Byakuya, who looked more at peace than Sasuke had ever seen him.

 Sasuke took a deep breath.

He walked to a corner of the reception hall, and stayed there until he was given the signal by his brother that he could go.  
Byakuya, however, stopped him before he reached the door.

"I trust you had a good time tonight.” he said, and the ring on his finger seemed to glisten in a way that immediately caught Sasuke’s attention.  
“I did, nii-sama.” Sasuke said. He met Byakuya’s gaze, and refused to lower it. Normally, an act of insubordination like that would have earned him a slight crease of his brother’s eyebrows--but this time, Byakuya merely stared back at him impassively.

“Good.” Byakuya said. “You may go now.”

Sasuke nodded, and bowed low. He stepped past Byakuya, and out of the doors--though he knew that his sibling’s eyes remained on his back until he rounded the corner and was out of sight.


End file.
